A better understanding of your community’s housing needs guides more effective municipal policy and partnerships for housing creation. Full stop.
As the provincial and federal governments roll out new housing legislation and funding for the creation of housing, the value of a housing needs assessment is more apparent than ever. Aside from the inherent value of knowing what housing is needed, initial assessment updates are required for all BC municipalities and regional districts as soon as the end of 2024. The federal government Housing Accelerator Funding (HAF) and recently announced expansion of this funding also require that communities have an updated housing needs assessment.
Fortunately, BC municipalities have some experience with these assessments and over the past four years WCS Engagement + Planning has helped a variety of them with assessments, research, strategy development and implementation of housing policy. With the requirement to allow suites and accessory dwelling units across the province and up to four units on every residential lot, the timing has not been better to update needs assessments.
Needs assessments alone, however, will not solve the housing challenges in your community. Completing an updated needs assessment tracking progress on housing development is part of an adaptive management approach to housing action planning that should be followed by recommendations and implementation activities. Our recent work with the District of Invermere illustrates how a needs assessment strategically informs policy, housing actions, and housing creation.
Contact us (info[AT]whistlercentre.ca) to chat about how we can help you with the important work to build housing for all.